Despite wanting to convert a ZX Spectrum into a USB keyboard for some time, I held off to wait for the unlikely duo of the ZX Spectrum Vega and the Recreated ZX Spectrum. Sadly, neither buttered my parsnips, and the reasons why have been discussed at length around this Internet of ours, so I shall say no more here. What I really wanted a combination of the two: The stand-alone operation of the Vega and the keyboard of the ‘Recreated’.

Not being one to re-invent the wheel, I’d been reading over this Instructable wot I found and occasionally drooling over the excellent kits offered by Tynemouth Software. Then, a battered old Speccy case and the parts needed for a USB interface found their way onto a Facebook group for just £20, their current owner being caught between retro-project-awesomeness and ‘having a life’ and ‘friends’. Clearly making the wrong choice, he put them up for sale.

I purchased this poor thing last week. After some initial mucking about, life was breathed into it once more. I had a a bit of fun getting the keyboard working but now she’s 100% operational and a welcome addition to the collection. If you’re unfamiliar with the VIC-20, it was Commodore’s entry…

Bletchley has just become home to a new Odeon multiplex next to MK Stadium. Although the cinema isn’t opening until the end of February, the attached restaurants are already doing a roaring trade, including Milton Keynes’ second TGI Friday’s. Being a lover of all things burger, I was keen to visit.

Last weekend saw the release of ‘The Imitation Game’ in which Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley star as Alan Turing and Joan Clarke, codebreakers that helped change the course of the Second World War. Amongst an ensemble cast, the story of Turing is told in three parts; his school days, Bletchley Park and his final, desperate years in Manchester.

So, you like the sound of going electric, but how does it all work? When Mrs E and I started considering an ‘EV’ (as the cool kids will insist on calling it) we quickly realised we had no idea how the whole system worked. What’s more, trying to get a full picture of using an EV in our everyday lives required a significant amount of research from various corners of the Internet. What we really needed was a one-pager that summarised how owning an ‘EV’ works in real-life. So, here it is.

Buoyed on by my successful project to add a composite video output to a 1976 Pong game, I decided to move to my next target, the Atari 2600. Now, this little beauty needs no introduction, a classic console if ever there was one. Like many of its time, RF output was your only option and the (very long) cable came pre-connected.

Like this:

Pong! What more could a young child want in 1978? Despite my formative years, I was already hooked on my friend’s magic-filled box of delights he described as a ‘TV Game’ (for ‘console’ was a word of the future). We would Pong, Pong and Pong some more. Then, in a rare moment of wish-fulfilment for a working-class lad from Liverpool, Santa brought me my very own TV Game, a Binatone no less!

Like this:

The first computer game I ever owned was this Binatone ‘TV Master MK IV’ – a simple unit that could play the standard Pong variants with a pair of analogue paddles. Yes, it may be simple, but I had hours of fun playing it. Sadly this isn’t my original…

On to happier things. As I attempt to ‘replace’ all the computers I’ve owned over the years, I’ve now got hold of the very first device I could ever really call a ‘computer’ of any sort; secured for 99p from eBay and currently being cleaned up. But what is it? A sense of well-being and my best wishes to anyone who knows the answer.